A Tribute to Zoë

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ 𝕾𝖊𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖔𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖎𝖉𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖇𝖔𝖜 𝖇𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖌𝖊, 𝖕𝖚𝖕𝖕𝖞 𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑. 09.25.09 – 09.26.22 ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

♡ Photo taken Summer 2021

I am crying as I write this. My beautiful little pug girl crossed the rainbow bridge last Monday and I’m finding it hard to put into words how I’m feeling. She was not just a dog. She was a friend and a member of the family. My parents grew to like her so much that they kept her after I moved across the country.

Sadly, I didn’t spend that much time living with my dog under the same roof. I went off to university the year after we got her and I lived on campus for the next four years. I would occasionally visit my parents on weekends. Fast forward to the year 2014 when I moved out of the house and moved across the country to a new province. Since then, I saw my dog very little – a couple times a year at most. Every time that I visited her, she had aged even more with grey hairs on her chin. But she was exactly the same, sweet and loving as I always knew.

Then I blinked, and it was her 13th birthday last month. By then her health had greatly deteriorated and I was lucky to spend one final summer with her last year, even though it was only a few days. By Spring 2022, she became completely deaf and was diagnosed with diabetes. Since April of that year, her diabetes had not been well managed since she was severely hyperglycemic and insulin resistant. She seemed old, but it was probably diabetes and not old age that made her decline faster than we had thought. It was just two weeks ago when she was not only deaf, but she was also blind, disoriented, and anxious. My last request to my parents was that they let her live until her 13th birthday, which they honored on September 25, 2022. On September 26th, 2022, she crossed the rainbow bridge. 🌈

It’s a Beautiful Life

Zoë (spelled Zoey according to my dad) had a great life living with my parents and she often spent weekends with my dad on his sailboat. But I knew something was very wrong when she slipped off the dock and fell head-first into the water two days before her 13th birthday. My dad rescued her in time, but she was disoriented and scared. Prior to the incident, my parents tried a new trial medication to preserve her vision, but it was ineffective. When they told me she was having a hard time due to her old age, and that her time was coming to an end, I accepted it because I knew she had lived such a good and fulfilling life. But when the vet put her down last Monday, it was so difficult for me.

Last week, I was going through an intense period of grief and sadness after the sudden loss of my dog. While it is normal to feel this way and many people will identify with what I went through, I am still feeling very sad. However, the only thing that I can do is take things day by day. These are lyrics from a Korean song called Beautiful Day by Crush. It was playing on Spotify during my morning walk, which reminded me of Zoë.

Her Memory Lives On 🐾

My parents want to plant a tree in their yard and I want to put a memorial rock by the red oak tree where Zoë’s spot will be. The painted rock that I have would be great for that. I’ve had this rock for a while now. I got it from one of my friends in the U.S. before the pandemic happened. The plan was for me to hide in Canada, but I couldn’t do it. The game “Hide or Keep” is a lot like Geocaching because it incorporates the thrill of hunting for hidden rocks in various outdoor areas.

I intended to hide this painted rock somewhere on campus, but before I could, the pandemic happened. Also, there was major construction going on, so I was unable to find the time. That being said, I have kept the rock with me all this time, but it’s time for me to pass it on. I think I will place the rock next to the red oak tree in my parents’ front yard. This will become Zoë’s spot.

♡ Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-tree-268533/

“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.” —James Herriot

P.S. This blog post was inspired by Jenny from Jenny in Neverland. To read her beautiful tribute to her dog, Rory, you can check out her heartwarming post here.

Thanks for stopping by! ❤

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Published by Hilary Tan

I am currently in the process of finding my inner goddess as I search for inner peace, find mental clarity, develop mental toughness, and crush goals. Come join me on this journey so we can live our best lives!

53 thoughts on “A Tribute to Zoë”

    • Hilary Tan says:
      Reply

      Thank you for your reply. To see that this blog post had an emotional impact was uplifting for me – thank you for being so transparent. Crying can be very cathartic, and I can imagine that you have experienced similar losses. Fur babies are just like children as they too, are family.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. ZeroSpace says:
    Reply

    Sympathy. My parents got a dog when I was 17 and heading off to college… and although they technically owned him, he was spiritually *my* dog and everyone knew it. Especially he and I. Many visits to him on the weekends and many adventures. You may have just inspired me to do a post about him. He lived until 12 and then a leg cancer got him. It’s so hard that we outlive them.

    Liked by 3 people

    • Hilary Tan says:
      Reply

      Thank you very much 🦋 I am sorry that you had to experience similar loss and wow, your story sounds almost identical to mine. In a weird way, I find this very comforting knowing that you’ve dealt with similar grief and loss. I’m really sorry that you lost your dog to leg cancer. I can imagine that it must have been so hard seeing him suffering as he aged. Outliving our pets has got to be one of the hardest things about being human imo. May our dogs Rest In Peace 🦋

      I think it would be amazing if you wrote a blog post about your dog. Tbh I was inspired by Blogger Jenny to write this blog post so I credited her for the idea. I knew in my heart that I needed to write this blog post in order to bring peace and order as well as find closure. Writing is the thing I do best since my mind/feelings/emotions are a hot mess these days.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. 𝑹𝒐𝑩𝑰𝑵 🪐 says:
    Reply

    Noooo this is devastating :(. It’s so sad when this happens. And the thought of needing to be put down is so heartbreaking. All three of our family dogs needed to be put down in the end. Nothing else like it, they are too innocent.

    They truly do live on in spirit, pets are unique.

    Liked by 3 people

      • Hilary Tan says:

        When they put my dog down last week (same vet clinic), I was halfway across the country and couldn’t be there in person which made things so much harder I think. I wish I could have been there to say my last goodbyes to my dog. At least she wasn’t suffering anymore and euthanasia relieved her of that. My mom said that she passed peacefully and my parents were there during her final moments.

        P.S. I am trying to get used to the new changes they made on WP and I am not used to it yet. The like button looks weird now and I cannot tell if I liked it or not. If you receive multiple notifications from me, that’s why.

        Liked by 1 person

    • Hilary Tan says:
      Reply

      It is so hard putting down a dog. I witnessed the euthanasia of cats and dogs when I was a student because I spent a semester at a vet clinic. At the time I thought I wanted to be a vet, but it didn’t work out, and maybe that’s for the best.I am sorry to hear you lost three of your family dogs and I understand that it isn’t easy. Losing a pet is never easy and we are here for you if you need someone to talk to. I am sorry that this happened to your family.

      Like

    • Hilary Tan says:
      Reply

      Thank you so much for thinking of us during this difficult time 🦋 It is comforting to know that Zoë had a peaceful passing ❤ Just thinking about how empty the house must be for my parents is hard.

      Like

  15. Stuart Danker says:
    Reply

    I totally feel for you. I have a ten-year-old cocker and can’t help but think I only have limited time left with her. And yes, for some of us, dogs are family. I never understood those who’d keep their furry buddies locked up in kennels for the entire day. There’s nothing like a dog’s love, and I hope you feel better as time passes. Hugs!

    Liked by 4 people

    • Hilary Tan says:
      Reply

      Thank you Stuart. It might take a while for me to recover and some days are easier than others, but I know that I have to keep going. Whenever I look at photos of her, my heart just breaks more and more 💔 I am sorry to hear that you are going through this too. It is so hard when you have to watch your dog get sick and be in pain, without being able to do anything about it. 😭

      Like

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